Brittany

[emchris]

Hi,

This will be our first time travelling abroad with two young children.

We were thinking Brittany,not sure which port would be best,any suggestions?

We would like a nice clean site which is close to the beach and has some entertainment for the kids.

Does anyone have any recommendations?all will be greatly recieved.

Thanks

Emma

 

[JulieT1]

Hi Emma

We've been to Brittany a few times and have done the Portsmouth/Caen and Plymouth/Roscoff crossings. We've met people there who have done Dover/Calais but to be honest we don't fancy the long drive as it takes us 4 - 6 hours to get to the ports from Derby.

The North coast is lovely, we've stayed at Chateau De Galinee, St Cast, there is also Le Chatelet which our friends say was nice too. Its around a 2 hour drive from Caen to St Cast and places worth visiting are Mont St Michel, Dinan, St Malo. The beaches around St Cast are good, our favourite was Pen Guen.

The area around Quimper / Benodet is also very nice with several good sites. We stayed at Camping de la Piscine at Beg Meil last year and have booked again for August, its close to a long sandy beach - 20min walk / 5 min drive. Le Letty on the edge of Benodet gets good reviews, no pool but next to a small beach. Its just over 2 hours from Roscoff to the Benodet area and places to visit include Concarneau, Pont Aven, Pointe du Raz, Quimper.

I always use campsite review sites and choose carefully, some of the larger ones have lots of statics on and can be "busier".

Most of the sites have play areas and childrens clubs etc.

If you are members of the C & CC or CC their brochures are useful when choosing where to go and have all the info on what to take with you

Hope this helps

Julie

 

[BigTim]

Hi Emma

I would second, big time, Camping Du Letty in Benodet. We first went there on our first overseas camping trip(frame tent) in 1994. We and our kids, then 13,12,10,8 and 6) loved it. We returned every year for a number of years, latterly as caravanners.

The site is large but broken up into hedged "paddocks of 6-8 pitches. Whilst generally quiet and peaceful it has good facilities in terms of a shop, 2 bars and various games. There is no pool but the adjacent beach and "lagoon" is safe for bathing, boating, rock-pooling, etc at all but high tides. We were careful parents but often only saw our kids when they returned for food!! Many campers take boats from cheap inflatables to full-sized motor cruisers which they moor, for free, in the river. We latterly bought a Zodiac inflatable from a French camper and still have it, now well patched, 10 years later.

You can see my review, and 19 other, mainly favourable ones, here.

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/reviews.asp?page=4&revid=5461
My review is number 19, ie, the first one in date order and includes a lot of things-do-with-a-family suggestions. We seemed to have set a precedent - pity we're not on commission.

Brittany is an ideal first-time destination for families. We travelled Brittany Ferries Plymouth to Roscoff which meant only an hour or so's pleasant, rural drive to Benodet. That route has, however, become rather expensive nowadays. It is possible to book Du Letty and the Brittany Ferry as a package from the Camping and Caravan Club but we always found it cheaper to just book the ferry with them and the site directly - in fact the first year and a number of others we got good pitches at Du Letty without booking.

If you do go to Du Letty ask for a pitch on the edge of the beach. One year we managed to move to one overlooking the beach with only the low hedge in between - a superb spot.

Brittany is a super place for family holidays and I wish you a happy time. It brings back so many memories of carefree, mainly sunny, hols just writing this.

Regards

Tim

 

[JulieT1]

Hi Emma & Tim

I agree with Tim's comment about booking direct with the site as we've also found it cheaper than booking as a package. However this year because the Euro/Pound rate isn't very good we've booked with the C & CC as it worked out quite alot cheaper (in February)and they are not adding any surcharge for currency changes. We've opted for 2 morning crossings (car & van)and the ferry is less than last year when we took our trailer tent. We are planning to stay 2 nights near Roscoff as we usually only see the terminal & ferry. If you're not tied to school hols the price might be cheaper than fuel/tolls/overnight stays from Calais.

We've also been to the Carnac area but the weather, especially the wind was particularly bad that year, (Boscastle was flooded). Vannes and Auray were pleasant but we struggled to find a nice beach near Baden. Carnac appeared a little more touristy than other areas we've visited. Journey from Caen was approx 5.5hrs, the site Mane Guernehue was quite good though.

We all prefer to sail from Portsmouth as there's so much to see and we find it easier to get to than Plymouth. It depends where you plan to stay though, Plymouth/Roscoff means a much shorter drive if you go to western or southern Brittany, plus they have the 2 newest ferries - Mont St Michel is a nice ferry on the Caen route - the newer ones seem a bit more stable in bad weather.

Let us know which area you choose.

Julie

 

[Andrew_5105555]

Got to agree about Du letty we went last year for our first visit to Franceand was so good we didn't go off site with car for first 6 days,Benodet is a lovely seaside town(easy walk) with a twice weekly market.Would recommend visits to Concarnau,Pont Aven+Quimper.We sailed from Portsmouth to St malo on a overnite ferry,then a 3 hour ish drive to site with caravan on.

If when we go again i would go to Roscoff to get to site quicker,even though the drive was easy withlovely views of the french countryside.

We were planning to go again this year but due to higher costs and overtime ban at work we can't make it.

If their is anytng else you need to know just ask we will try our best to advise you,

Kind Regards

Andrew+Nicola

 

[Andrew_5105555]

Got to agree about Du letty we went last year for our first visit to Franceand was so good we didn't go off site with car for first 6 days,Benodet is a lovely seaside town(easy walk) with a twice weekly market.Would recommend visits to Concarnau,Pont Aven+Quimper.We sailed from Portsmouth to St malo on a overnite ferry,then a 3 hour ish drive to site with caravan on.

If when we go again i would go to Roscoff to get to site quicker,even though the drive was easy withlovely views of the french countryside.

We were planning to go again this year but due to higher costs and overtime ban at work we can't make it.

If their is anytng else you need to know just ask we will try our best to advise you,

Kind Regards

Andrew+Nicola

Forgot to say we booked a beach side pitch but when we got their we didn't get one but in hindsight we had a pitch one field back from the beach side pitches and these where much more spacious,the beach side pitches are very small.

And favoured by the regular German visiters,this is not a problem if you don't mind very close neighbours.

 

[andy_5039874]

Hi Emma,

We too are Du Letty fans. We are returning for our second visit this year in July. Andrew's comment about the beach side pitches is very true. I think the pitches a bit further back are better personally as you get more space and you don't have everyone walking passed to get to the beach. That said the view overlooking the lagoon is lovely. We didn't manage to get to the night club last year as our daughter was too young but we hope to try it out this time. Let me know if you want any more info.

Andy

 

[andy_5039874]

Hi Emma,

We too are Du Letty fans. We are returning for our second visit this year in July. Andrew's comment about the beach side pitches is very true. I think the pitches a bit further back are better personally as you get more space and you don't have everyone walking passed to get to the beach. That said the view overlooking the lagoon is lovely. We didn't manage to get to the night club last year as our daughter was too young but we hope to try it out this time. Let me know if you want any more info.

Andy

 

[emchris]

Hi Emma,

We too are Du Letty fans. We are returning for our second visit this year in July. Andrew's comment about the beach side pitches is very true. I think the pitches a bit further back are better personally as you get more space and you don't have everyone walking passed to get to the beach. That said the view overlooking the lagoon is lovely. We didn't manage to get to the night club last year as our daughter was too young but we hope to try it out this time. Let me know if you want any more info.

Andy

Thankyou all for your suggestions,i am very greatful. x